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Making My Heart Feel Sore
Oct. 11th, 2011 08:11 pmI had just got over one cold and here comes another one in quick succession. It's like hurricanes on Mexico's Pacific Coast. Still, I am not letting that stop me. There is plenty of time to be miserable over that when I get back to the UK.
I got out of my hotel room reasonably late this morning, partly due to the need to have a lie in and partly because I lost my guidebook for the best part of 30 minutes. I went from the room to my lobby and back to my room again on numerous occasions to look for it, trying to dodge the evil lifts which always give you a static electric shock, only to discover that it was scrunched up amidst my bedsheets. This only gave me enough time to quickly admire the view of Sinaia from the entrance to the Telegondola and to grab a sausage roll with injected ketchup from the Romanian version of Greggs. And very nice it was too.
Radu and Marius had arranged to meet up with me at noon to drive me to Braşov, the eighth largest city in Romania. Known as Kronstadt to the Saxons, this picturesque historic city has a strong German architectural theme, with the delightful Piaţa Sfatului at its centre. A water fountain and a beautiful town hall (known as the Council House) dominate this square, which is lined with colourful merchant houses with rakish red roofs and a KFC. Local legend has it that the children who were enticed by the Pied Piper of Hamelin disappeared underground, only to reappear in a street adjacent to this square. It is an inspiring and magical place.
We stopped for a beer in one of the street cafes, sampling a traditional Romanian dessert in the process. It was similar to what I once tried in Hungary - a cylinder of sweet bread coated with sugar and cinnamon. It was fantastic bathing in the mid-October sun and watching children scaring the pidgeons, causing them to scatter throughout the square.
On the way up to the square, we saw many more merchants' houses as we walked up Str. Republicii. At the bottom of this street there stands a range of beautiful Georgian style buildings, including a couple of hotels. However, the real building of interest was the 1970's desinged cylindrical Volksbank, which still displays the pock-marks from the events of December 1989. Across the road, there are 30 headstones commemorating the victims of the uprising against Nicolae Ceauşescu, including one remembering a girl of six who was caught in the crossfire.
Our next stop was to the Black Church, which is very similar to an English cathedral in appearance. It is called the Black Church as much of it was destroyed in a fire which took hold on 21 April 1689. The rebuilding took many years, during which a second arched level was added. The main point of interest in the interior of this rather plain church is the numerous Turkish rugs, which pre-date the restoration of the building. They were in a different building when the fire took hold and represent gifts from Turkish merchants thanking God for their safe journey to Romania.
After this, we walked around the city a little more, spying one of the exquisite town gates which formed part of the fortifications designed to repel the threat of the Ottoman Turks in the fifteenth century. We also saw a red-bricked Moorish-style synagogue and the narrowest street in the city, down which you can only walk single file. Then, realising our parking ticket was quickly running out, we fled back to the car.
Marius knew a good restaurant some 30 minutes drive away and as we climbed up the mountains and into Transylvania, the scenery only became more stunning. We stopped at an outlook point where we could look down on the whole of Braşov, spying the Hollywood style 'Braşov' sign on the hill adjacent to us. Here, there was a mangy stray dog, who took a strong interest in us. I managed to capture her image looking over the valley towards the city and immediately felt pity for her. There are many stray dogs here - another negative from Ceauşescu's regime - and I just want to take them all home with me. Sadly, I can't. After a few minutes, we got back into our car and drove up a narrow twisting road full of hairpin turns. The road was flanked by golden trees glistening in the sunlight of a blue-sky autumn day. And as we climbed further, snow started to appear by the roadside, hinting to us that winter is nearly here.
The Coliba Haiducilor is a slice of traditional Transylvania. It is set at the bottom of a ski run, overlooking a jagged outcrop which plunges into green countryside below. The walls are adorned with various Romanian fauna and flora, including bear skins, rabbits, squirrels, corn and carrots. Patterned linen was also on the walls whilst sixteenth century wooden wheels made up the chandeliers. In the centre of the room, there was a large open fire and a sturdy black cooking pot, a traditional vessel in most Romanian kitchens. The waiters were in authentic Transylvanian dress and the music was authentically Transylvanian. The restaurant was completely made out of wood, with a wooden arch greeting you as you entered. The bottom of the steps was coated in pine branches and the smell of pine pervaded in the air. There was snow everywhere, only adding to the sense of romance. It was an extremely surreal place.
I tried some Romanian wine, dry and white, which is their speciality. It was most agreeable. We then moved on to the starters, which was a sharing platter full of cheeses, meats and baking hot bread. The pate was particularly gorgeous, as well as the various bits of things in aspic jelly. Afterwards, I had fatty pork on the bone, swimming in white beans. This is another Romanian favourite and it was rather tasty. It was here that we concluded our business talk and decided to have a conference call about everything we have discussed on Friday (just in case you doubted whether I really am here for business :P).
With night starting to fall and a two hour drive back to Ploieşti on Romania's M1 - which really is a twisty turny mountain road with some of the most stunning scenery you will ever see - we decided to head back. En route we got stuck behind a myriad of different vehicles on the one-lane highway, but we didn't mind as the views were simply breathtaking. When we eventually got back to Ploieşti, we had a quick tour around, with Radu and Marius showing me the cathedral, clock museum and art gallery. That's really all there is in this industrial city, and soon enough they dropped me off at the Pensione Dacica before retiring for the night. The Pensione is fine - a bit basic but will suffice for a night. It's a bit like my former digs in Middlesbrough - not sure if that's a good thing or not. And the neighbours are just as noisy.
I head back to the UK tomorrow, which makes me feel quite sad. Still, I have had a great five days in Romania and I strongly urge you to come here if you can. I hope you have enjoyed reading my travelogue and I will get the pictures uploaded in the very near future.
I got out of my hotel room reasonably late this morning, partly due to the need to have a lie in and partly because I lost my guidebook for the best part of 30 minutes. I went from the room to my lobby and back to my room again on numerous occasions to look for it, trying to dodge the evil lifts which always give you a static electric shock, only to discover that it was scrunched up amidst my bedsheets. This only gave me enough time to quickly admire the view of Sinaia from the entrance to the Telegondola and to grab a sausage roll with injected ketchup from the Romanian version of Greggs. And very nice it was too.
Radu and Marius had arranged to meet up with me at noon to drive me to Braşov, the eighth largest city in Romania. Known as Kronstadt to the Saxons, this picturesque historic city has a strong German architectural theme, with the delightful Piaţa Sfatului at its centre. A water fountain and a beautiful town hall (known as the Council House) dominate this square, which is lined with colourful merchant houses with rakish red roofs and a KFC. Local legend has it that the children who were enticed by the Pied Piper of Hamelin disappeared underground, only to reappear in a street adjacent to this square. It is an inspiring and magical place.
We stopped for a beer in one of the street cafes, sampling a traditional Romanian dessert in the process. It was similar to what I once tried in Hungary - a cylinder of sweet bread coated with sugar and cinnamon. It was fantastic bathing in the mid-October sun and watching children scaring the pidgeons, causing them to scatter throughout the square.
On the way up to the square, we saw many more merchants' houses as we walked up Str. Republicii. At the bottom of this street there stands a range of beautiful Georgian style buildings, including a couple of hotels. However, the real building of interest was the 1970's desinged cylindrical Volksbank, which still displays the pock-marks from the events of December 1989. Across the road, there are 30 headstones commemorating the victims of the uprising against Nicolae Ceauşescu, including one remembering a girl of six who was caught in the crossfire.
Our next stop was to the Black Church, which is very similar to an English cathedral in appearance. It is called the Black Church as much of it was destroyed in a fire which took hold on 21 April 1689. The rebuilding took many years, during which a second arched level was added. The main point of interest in the interior of this rather plain church is the numerous Turkish rugs, which pre-date the restoration of the building. They were in a different building when the fire took hold and represent gifts from Turkish merchants thanking God for their safe journey to Romania.
After this, we walked around the city a little more, spying one of the exquisite town gates which formed part of the fortifications designed to repel the threat of the Ottoman Turks in the fifteenth century. We also saw a red-bricked Moorish-style synagogue and the narrowest street in the city, down which you can only walk single file. Then, realising our parking ticket was quickly running out, we fled back to the car.
Marius knew a good restaurant some 30 minutes drive away and as we climbed up the mountains and into Transylvania, the scenery only became more stunning. We stopped at an outlook point where we could look down on the whole of Braşov, spying the Hollywood style 'Braşov' sign on the hill adjacent to us. Here, there was a mangy stray dog, who took a strong interest in us. I managed to capture her image looking over the valley towards the city and immediately felt pity for her. There are many stray dogs here - another negative from Ceauşescu's regime - and I just want to take them all home with me. Sadly, I can't. After a few minutes, we got back into our car and drove up a narrow twisting road full of hairpin turns. The road was flanked by golden trees glistening in the sunlight of a blue-sky autumn day. And as we climbed further, snow started to appear by the roadside, hinting to us that winter is nearly here.
The Coliba Haiducilor is a slice of traditional Transylvania. It is set at the bottom of a ski run, overlooking a jagged outcrop which plunges into green countryside below. The walls are adorned with various Romanian fauna and flora, including bear skins, rabbits, squirrels, corn and carrots. Patterned linen was also on the walls whilst sixteenth century wooden wheels made up the chandeliers. In the centre of the room, there was a large open fire and a sturdy black cooking pot, a traditional vessel in most Romanian kitchens. The waiters were in authentic Transylvanian dress and the music was authentically Transylvanian. The restaurant was completely made out of wood, with a wooden arch greeting you as you entered. The bottom of the steps was coated in pine branches and the smell of pine pervaded in the air. There was snow everywhere, only adding to the sense of romance. It was an extremely surreal place.
I tried some Romanian wine, dry and white, which is their speciality. It was most agreeable. We then moved on to the starters, which was a sharing platter full of cheeses, meats and baking hot bread. The pate was particularly gorgeous, as well as the various bits of things in aspic jelly. Afterwards, I had fatty pork on the bone, swimming in white beans. This is another Romanian favourite and it was rather tasty. It was here that we concluded our business talk and decided to have a conference call about everything we have discussed on Friday (just in case you doubted whether I really am here for business :P).
With night starting to fall and a two hour drive back to Ploieşti on Romania's M1 - which really is a twisty turny mountain road with some of the most stunning scenery you will ever see - we decided to head back. En route we got stuck behind a myriad of different vehicles on the one-lane highway, but we didn't mind as the views were simply breathtaking. When we eventually got back to Ploieşti, we had a quick tour around, with Radu and Marius showing me the cathedral, clock museum and art gallery. That's really all there is in this industrial city, and soon enough they dropped me off at the Pensione Dacica before retiring for the night. The Pensione is fine - a bit basic but will suffice for a night. It's a bit like my former digs in Middlesbrough - not sure if that's a good thing or not. And the neighbours are just as noisy.
I head back to the UK tomorrow, which makes me feel quite sad. Still, I have had a great five days in Romania and I strongly urge you to come here if you can. I hope you have enjoyed reading my travelogue and I will get the pictures uploaded in the very near future.
